Someone once said to me, “There are veterinarians who help some animal rescues. You are not one of those vets. You are an animal rescuer who just happens to be a veterinarian.“
I believe every animal has a story. I am fortunate enough to be able to share some of them.

Petfinder Featured Pet

Friday, July 27, 2012

A phone call came into our office about a kitten with a missing leg, would we take a look at it. It came from a family that helps us with our TNR (Trap Neuter Release) program in town, so I knew this kitten was a "stray" and that if an issue was present, it would be at our expense since the program barely covers spay/neuter costs at $25 per cat. Through the door comes a person with a carrier. A foul odor is emanating from the pet carrier in which the cutest 5-6 week old, long haired black kitten resides. The carrier seems inappropriately large for such a tiny resident, and the kitten is obviously scared by the jostling of the kennel and the noises to which it is unaccustomed.

We open the cage door and the kitten, tiny enough to be held in one hand, is so skinny. One leg is missing. When the phone call came in, I was unsure whether the arm was a congenital defect that was present at birth, a wound that occurred after birth and was old but healed, or whether it was a fresh wound.

As I handled this kitten, I could feel the heat and moisture in my hand that was coming from the wound hidden beneath the incredibly long fur with which this kitten was blessed.

The kitten in his new "apartment" with the doll my daughter gave him for company.﻿

Being so young, and so skinny, sedation was going to be risky, but had to be done. Beneath the fur was a wound. The front left leg of this tiny kitten, had been ripped off from half way down the humerus. All that remained of this kitten's arm was a rotting stump of the remainder of the humerus bone and its overlying skin. The arm's muscles had all been stripped away. This baby was lucky it did not bleed to death at the time of injury.

The wound was old. There was no fresh blood, no fresh bleeding. The flesh was black, putrid, and the maggots were in their larval stage indicating the wound was at least 5 days old, or older.

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